mgo.licio.us

"The face of the operation is Briatore (referred to exclusively in the film by his colleagues and angry, chanting detractors as "Flavio"), an anthropomorphic radish who spends most of his time at QPR plotting to fire all of the managers."

At press time, Harbaugh had sent Michigan’s athletic department an envelope containing a heavily annotated seating chart, a list of the 63,000 seat views he had found unsatisfactory, and a glowing 70-page report on section 25, row 12, seat 9, which he claimed is “exactly what the great sport of football is all about.”

Michigan handily took care of Central Michigan on a fairly wet day in Ann Arbor by a score of 13-7 in front of 880 fans braving the weather. Matt Gerbe took the win in his first career start, moving to 1-0 on the season. He went only 3.2 innings giving up 4 hits, 3 runs (all unearned), and 2 walks whiles not recording a strikeout. Behind him, Travis Smith, Ben Ballantine, Kolby Wood, Matt Miller, and Matt Broder combined to finish the game and give up on 4 runs (3 earned). Decent day against a decent hitting team.

The offense was clicking in full, recording 18 hits, including a multi-hit game by Biondi (3), Toth (2), Berset (2), Crank (2), Dufek (2), Urban (2), and Dennis (2). Every starter had a hit in this game, and the only batter with a plate appearance without one was John Lorenz, who went 0-for-1 after entering the game as a defensive replacement. No real stars here, as everyone hit well and was timely about it.

It is worth noting that Ryan LaMarre made his first start since breaking his thumb, playing left field instead of center as he started in the season opener. LaMarre went 1-for-3 on the day with a hit by pitch and a strikeout. He also unlaced a screamer up the middle, seen in the video highlights almost hitting Berset as he lead off second. That's encouraging to see him hit the ball hard and up the middle.

The other major lineup change was moving senior Mike Kittle to third base for the start. I'm not sure this is a permanent move, but Kittle has had a hot bat of late and it appears Rich Maloney wants to try and keep that bat in the lineup. That could be a tough break for sophomore John Lorenz who has really picked up his game play of late. He had raised is average to nearly .280, which isn't bad for a 8-hole hitter in the Big Ten, but he hasn't been that consistent at the plate.

What will keep Lorenz in the mix at third is, surprisingly, his defense. Kittle had a diving play that he reacted too slow on early in the game. Lorenz faced an identical play late in the game, and he was able to move in front of the ball and make the easy throw to first. I'm not sure who to expect to start at the hot corner on Friday, but I think we see Lorenz. I somewhat think this was just a trial to see how Kittle would perform defensively. It's not that he failed that test, I'm just not sure that switch is warranted yet. Should be interesting to see come Friday.

The Weekend

Michigan takes on Purdue this weekend. I'll have some Q&A with a Purdue baseball blogger tomorrow and a couple series thoughts out Friday. Friday's first pitch is currently slated for 7:05pm at Ray Fisher Stadium and televised on the BTN (the television channel, not the internet stream).

After last year's growing pains, lack of good 'holy crap' moments, and the daily defense of Rich Rod and his offense to nearly every non-Michigan fan I have ever known, I will never tire of seeing Michigan highlights on TMZ -er- ESPN.

Flashes of Tate's shredding of Notre Dame's D was just highlighted during the GT/Miami game tonight. It was great seeing something other than Tim Tebow, Brett Favre, and how much fun Pete Carroll is having. It's no secret that ESPN is like a kid with ADHD, and anything that is shiny and new seems to get put on high-rotation right away. With the high paced nature of the new offense, and emergence of Tate as a potential human highlight reel, I hope we will be there many more times this season.

It sure is nice not having to defend this team with my words, their play has stated my case better than I ever could. Way to go, guys.

The Michigan Wolverines Football that we've known and (usually) loved for the past 312 years is long gone. Ushering in a new era to Ann Arbor is Rich Rodriguez, Mike Barwis, and a shit-ton of speedy freshman, and a quarterback that has never played football in college before.

But before we're so quick to forget the past, and all the good that came with it, to embrace the future that will smack us in the face in under 48 hours, let's take this time to remember this past season. The final season for so many beloved Wolverines.

Lloyd Carr, Chad Henne, Mike Hart, Jake Long, Mario Manningham, Adrian Arrington, Shawn Crable, Jamar Adams, among others, will never don a Michigan uniform again. They won't run out of the tunnel, touch the banner, or sing with their bretheren during the post-game celebrations in the locker room.

They won't ever be able to play against the Scarlet and Grey with that fiery passion in their hearts that can one can only feel whilst playing in the Michigan-Ohio State game. They won't ever get to beat their little brothers from East Lansing, a rivalry that, although somewhat one-sided during their time in Ann Arbor, is a hell of a rivalry nonetheless.

They won't ever put a rose in their mouth, knowing that Pasadena awaits their arrival.

As the players and coaches put their final season behind them, so in a way does the Michigan faithful. The Michigan team we watch take the field on Saturday isn't going to be like anything we've ever seen in Maize and Blue before. The defense will blitz relentlessly, our running back corps is as quick and deep as we may have ever had. Running backs will pass, quarterbacks will (attempt to) run.

This is a new team, not because of the departed Seniors and the incoming Freshman, but because of something much, much grander.

So let's take a look at not only the last Michigan Football season for many players and coaches, but in the grander scheme of things, the last "Michigan Football Season" for many of us fans.

Because Saturday will be something completely new, and I for one can't wait.